Improving Productivity and Service in Depot Businesses

Book excerpt: This book is specifically for working operations managers across the broad range of business types that deploy fleet and product via a myriad of service types. It is applicable to businesses with small medium to large fleets in haulage, 3PL, and any service business operating a depot structure. The book is less about theoretical concepts – although specific references point to theories including Lean, continuous improvement, net promoter score, and balanced scorecard – but is essentially a practical guide applying worked examples and generic templates regarding the core ten activities that are critical to achieving service and profit expectation in any depot, route-based business deploying fleet. Every working manager – front-line to COO – will identify with and grasp that these are fundamental areas and that, if improvement can be sustained, will deliver better service to customers and enhanced profit in both local and business levels. The key areas examined are: People management Fleet management Route scheduling Optimisation of non-productive (on-depot) time Driver debrief Customer service and complaint management and measurement Key performance indicators The operating rhythm Continuous improvement